Standing Strong

The next morning.

Lin Fei arrived at the company early.

—Feiyang Music Movement Culture Media.

As soon as she entered, she greeted everyone with a smile. She looked to be in an excellent mood and positively radiant.

Today, she wore a simple white cotton short-sleeved T-shirt.

She paired it with light blue denim shorts.

The shorts fell right to the middle of her thighs, making her legs look even longer and straighter.

She wore white sneakers that matched her outfit.

A pink baseball cap sat on her head.

Her highlighted flaxen hair cascaded over her shoulders, framing fair skin and delicate, picturesque features.

With this outfit and that exquisitely pretty face, no one would doubt her if she said she was a university student in her early twenties.

In reality, she was already twenty-nine this year.

After this year, she would be a woman in her thirties.

When she had been in her early twenties, she had already been hailed as Xia Kingdom's Last Heavenly Queen!

She entered the music industry at eighteen and, with her instantly recognizable voice, flawless tones across different vocal ranges, powerful breath control, and command of multiple styles, had taken the scene by storm from the very start!

Fast songs, slow songs, high notes, mid and low notes—there was nothing she could not sing.

Back then, some had called her the Ever-Changing Heavenly Queen.

She was a singer truly capable of performing grand songs.

At certain major official events, she was no less impressive than the national-team performers.

Her influence reached throughout the entire Chinese-speaking world.

She even had many fans overseas.

In only four or five years, she made more than twenty classic pop songs famous, and they remained hugely popular to this day.

They were also staple songs for many people at KTV.

The key was that Lin Fei had risen to stardom when the music scene had already been half-dead, becoming wildly popular!

Top-tier endorsement deals came pouring in.

Back then, even many veteran gold-medal lyricists and composers who had already retired could not resist reaching out first, hoping to work with her.

But a series of sudden events sent her crashing from the peak to the bottom overnight.

From National Goddess to public enemy, the speed had been unbelievable.

After that, she disappeared from the public eye in Xia Kingdom.

Even today, after the truth had surfaced, no matter how countless fans who had come to their senses called for her, she had never made another public appearance.

In fact, people in the music industry all knew that Lin Fei had never given up making music after retreating from the spotlight.

As the owner of a small entertainment company, she had remained behind the scenes all these years.

She promoted newcomers and participated in soundtrack work for films, dramas, and other major events.

Her income naturally could not compare to when she had been at the height of her fame, but it was more than enough to support both herself and the company.

Lin Fei had been rather troubled lately, but her mood had only improved over the past two days.

It started when a film and television company she had worked with many times approached her on their own initiative, specifically requesting that Kong Xi, her company's popular rising singer, perform an insert song for a xianxia drama.

In truth, Kong Xi's status alone was not enough to command such a high price of one million.

The other party had mainly been interested in Kong Xi's popularity and traffic.

Lin Fei did not object to this kind of mutually beneficial arrangement.

But for a long time, Kong Xi had been unable to create a song she was satisfied with.

Lin Fei had been worried, so she specifically sought out several gold-medal lyricists and composers who had once wanted to work with her.

The results left her disappointed and angry.

Even though time had proven that what happened back then had not been her fault at all, and that she had even been completely wronged and maliciously smeared by a group of people.

She was no longer Xia Kingdom's Last Heavenly Queen in people's eyes, after all.

Combined with Kong Xi's internet celebrity identity, those people had all politely declined without exception.

Even worse, some had hinted that as long as she was willing to pay the price, helping her was not impossible.

They even said they could write several songs specifically for her and help her make a comeback.

It had infuriated her.

She had immediately blocked such people and never wanted to contact them again.

As the deadline for delivering the song drew closer, she remained somewhat anxious even though the production team had never rushed her.

Then, unexpectedly, Kong Xi solved the problem herself without making a sound!

That girl really had some luck!

Lin Fei had already listened to Always Been Quiet.

Unlike Kong Xi, who had never been in love and could only relate to it emotionally, and unlike Yan Yu, who kept her emotions restrained and did not wish to show them.

The first time she heard Kong Xi's version, she could not help bursting into tears in her office.

She cried a complete mess, ruining her makeup.

Worried someone would see her when she left, she spent ages touching up her makeup and deliberately stayed until very late.

And that was still with Kong Xi unable to fully convey the intense sorrow hidden beneath the song's calm surface.

As an excellent singer, Lin Fei naturally possessed tremendous empathy. Although she had never experienced that kind of romantic regret and was not particularly old, her life had still been filled with extreme highs and lows.

She could completely empathize with it.

When she had been wronged, smeared, slandered, and cursed as the most overrated Heavenly Queen, she had never stepped forward to defend herself with even a single word.

Yet this one commissioned song for a drama had shattered her defenses in an instant.

If one had never experienced true lingering regret.

It was difficult to write lyrics with such intense emotions hidden beneath such plainness.

Lin Fei, who was nearly thirty and had never been in love, felt deeply moved.

Although the song described a modern setting, she still sent it to the other party without hesitation.

Because she felt that this song was perfectly suited to that drama!

Even if Kong Xi could not fully capture the essence of the song, it happened to fit the drama's plot exceptionally well!

So Lin Fei did not add a single unnecessary comment.

Art was universal.

She believed they would understand.

Half an hour later.

The drama's director called her.

"Teacher Lin, this song fits the mood perfectly. It may be written about modern times, but that feeling... hey, I never studied music, so it is hard for me to describe it precisely, but this is exactly the right flavor!"

"It is fantastic! Truly fantastic! It fits the core of our drama perfectly!"

"Great song, great lyrics. Hey, Kong Xi is just a little too young, so the sense of sorrow falls slightly short, but it is already very good. No issues at all!"

"I have no problems whatsoever. With this song, I have even more confidence in this drama!"

This director was also a friend Lin Fei had known for years, one who had not distanced himself from her because of what happened back then.

They did not interact all that often. He had a reserved, deeply composed personality and rarely displayed his emotions so openly.

For him to be this excited meant he truly liked it.

Soon afterward, the film and television company's senior management contacted her as well, saying that after listening to the song, they all thought it was particularly good.

They even specifically asked Lin Fei whether Kong Xi had written it.

If she had, that would be a huge bonus!

As they had said, a considerable portion of that one million had truly been paid for Kong Xi's popularity and traffic.

But if Kong Xi's creative ability was this strong too, then the money would have been more than well spent, and there could be even more opportunities to work together in the future!

Lin Fei replied that the songwriter had been introduced by a friend and that she did not know the person well. Only then did they give up with some regret.

Having finally settled the matter, Lin Fei was delighted, but she was also curious about the identity of the song's lyricist and composer.

Not just now—even in the era when she debuted, the Chinese music scene had already begun declining.

Although there were still many good songs, veteran gold-medal lyricists and composers had gradually started retiring, while the new generation struggled to fill the gap.

As the internet became increasingly developed and entertainment gradually moved toward an era of universal self-media, the decline of the music scene had become almost inevitable.

That was why so many people had placed such high hopes on her back then.

By now, there were almost no active gold-medal lyricists or composers left in the entire Chinese music scene.

Even a second-tier singer-songwriter like Ma Shen had slowly endured his way into becoming a major figure over time.

After hanging up, she first asked Kong Xi's manager.

The manager said she did not know either, only that Kong Xi had spent her own money to buy the song.

Lin Fei said the company could cover that expense and reimburse Kong Xi later.

After all, the company had received a one-time share of six hundred thousand, and during Kong Xi's contract period, it would also benefit from all kinds of future earnings.

Doing nothing at all would be hard to justify.

She had always been generous toward the people in her company. Whether it was compensation or benefits, they were considered top-tier within the industry.

She had even been criticized for disrupting market rates.

Fortunately, her company was small and could not affect too many people. Otherwise, Feiyang Music Movement might have been targeted as viciously as she had been back then.

Kong Xi was already one of the most popular newcomers to debut in recent years!

Since the manager did not know the creator's identity, Lin Fei planned to ask Kong Xi personally.

But because Song Dao had instructed her to, Kong Xi did not tell the truth.

She especially did not send Lin Fei that contract to look at.

She said she was not very familiar with the creator either and that Yan Yu had found the person.

Lin Fei was somewhat speechless. Could this be the alias of some gold-medal lyricist and composer?

Perhaps the person wanted to make money but did not want people to know they were writing songs for an internet celebrity, so they had chosen such a meaningful pen name?

First of all, the lyrics were excellent!

Second, the melody and arrangement were not bad either.

A faint sorrow showed through its plainness.

When she looked at a song, it was like a martial arts master watching a match in the ring—whether there was real skill behind it was obvious at a glance.

She wondered whether she should ask Yan Yu to contact Teacher Water Strike Three Thousand and send a red envelope over.

First, to express gratitude, and second, to show goodwill and lay the groundwork for further collaboration.

Although Kong Xi sang folk songs, she could actually handle many different styles of music.

Her vocal range was broad, her explosive power was strong, her breath control was extremely steady, and her voice had a distinctive, easily recognizable quality.

She was a promising talent.

As long as she had good songs, she would definitely have a chance to become popular.

Even today!

Lin Fei had never believed that nonsense about music being dead.

No matter how restless the times became, people still liked listening to songs.

People said old songs sounded better only because there were no new songs capable of matching them!

So if there were none, then say there were none. How did that mean music was dead?

As for herself, her life would probably remain like this. She did not really dare, nor did she particularly want, to face the public again.

She had experienced the tidal wave of praise, and she had also endured the overwhelming torrent of abuse.

She was tired.

Living quietly like this was quite good.

But she had to consider the people in her company.

When she signed Kong Xi in the first place, she had seen the girl's potential.

As well as the faint... similarities between them!

Lin Fei knew Yan Yu. Many of their songs were recorded over at Yan Yu's place.

They were close friends and business partners.

Still, she decided to have Kong Xi contact Yan Yu first.

As long as the intention was conveyed, that would be enough.

If the person really was an alias used by one of those old perverts from back then, and Lin Fei delivered herself to the door only for the person to say something inappropriate, she might offend them in a moment of anger.

She did not care for herself, but she did not want to affect others.

No matter who the person was, since they had let Kong Xi sing the song, they were clearly open to working together. At worst, Lin Fei could offer a larger share of the profits.

After sending Kong Xi a voice message explaining her thoughts, Lin Fei added a special reminder.

"If the other party makes improper demands, think carefully about the consequences. Do not agree so casually."

It was only a reminder. That was enough to fulfill her responsibility.

After all, in this industry, everyone craved fame; once famous, they craved explosive popularity; once explosively popular, they craved staying popular forever.

If they were willing to pay a price for that, no one could stop them, nor should they.

She walked over and sat on the sofa opposite her desk.

Leaning back lazily, she propped her long, pale legs on the coffee table.

She turned on the speakers and listened to Always Been Quiet once more.

She hummed along softly.

Having never neglected her fundamentals all these years, even her soft humming remained incomparably pleasant to hear.

In fact, she even felt a faint urge to sing a version herself!

In the end, I still love singing.

Feeling sentimental, she gave a helpless smile, took out her phone, and started browsing Audio-Visual.

She immediately came across a clipped video from music critic Cui Luo.

The instant she saw his face, her good mood vanished.

She had wanted to swipe away, but she was still a little curious.

Ten minutes later.

Lin Fei's chest rose and fell slightly, and a hint of anger flickered in her beautiful eyes.

That guy was like a toad crawling onto her foot—not biting, just disgusting!

Over the years, he had taken countless open and covert jabs at her on all sorts of occasions. She had always been too lazy to respond, yet he just wouldn't stop!

Talentless Heavenly Queen!

Those were the two words she least wanted to hear.

She did not have many works, after all. From her debut to her retirement, she had only been active for five or six years in total.

And most of them had been love songs.

Even when she had been at the height of her popularity, there had been a group of people hounding her, Cui Luo naturally among them.

They said she only had a pretty face, that her songs had no value or musicality, that they were all shallow pop tunes, and that she was utterly unworthy of the title of Heavenly Queen.

Yet even after she had retired from the industry, they still kept using her to farm traffic.

Strangely enough, she would usually have ignored such comments.

Perhaps Always Been Quiet had stirred up Memories from those years deep within her heart.

Lin Fei's emotions were a little unstable, and she was even somewhat irritable.

She had also listened to Song Dao's See Through Love, See Through You. From a professional standpoint, it truly was not particularly sophisticated.

But did something being sophisticated necessarily mean it sounded good?

For listeners, as long as a song had a pleasing melody, could make them happy or sad, and resonated with their emotions, that was enough!

All that talk about sophistication was just something so-called professionals enjoyed among themselves behind closed doors in their little circles.

She had suffered from that kind of criticism back then. Now that a decent new singer-songwriter had finally emerged in the lifeless music scene, he had suddenly become popular, and mentioning him brought traffic, so a pack of hungry wolves immediately surrounded him.

These people had really gone too far!

Already feeling somewhat melancholy, Lin Fei suddenly got worked up.

She picked up her phone, opened Shuibo—which she logged into often but had barely posted on for years—and rapidly typed out a paragraph.

Without hesitation, she sent it.